Legendary Clifton soccer coach Fernando Rossi dies

Fernando Rossi, a native of Italy’s central coast who built the Clifton High School boys’ soccer team into a regional powerhouse over 23 years as its head coach, died Tuesday. He was 60.

A cause of death was not made public Tuesday.

Mr. Rossi took the helm of the team from its founder, Severin Palydowycz, in 1978 and ran the program through the 2001 season, amassing 353 wins. His teams lost just 95 games and tied in 51 matches.

In his final year as coach, the Mustangs won 20 consecutive matches to finish 20-2, earning their fifth consecutive Passaic County soccer championship and a spot in the state Group 4 sectional draw. The team’s performance stunned even Mr. Rossi himself.

“If you had told me at the beginning of the season that we would win 20 games, I would have said, ‘No way,’” he told The Record in December 2001.

Mr. Rossi left Clifton High School, where he also taught Italian and Spanish, and moved to Parma, Italy, where his son Giuseppe joined the youth team of the Serie A soccer club Parma F.C.

Now 23, Giuseppe Rossi turned down an invitation to train with the United States men’s national team in 2006, stating a desire to play for Italy. The young striker scored two goals for Italy in a match against the U.S. in last year’s Confederations Cup in South Africa. He currently plays for Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga.

“I always thought for Giuseppe to go to the next level, he had to go where they live and breathe soccer,” Rossi told The New York Times last year. Mr. Rossi’s wife, the former Cleonilde Petrocelli, and their daughter, Tina, stayed behind in Clifton.

Fernando Felice Rossi was born on July 22, 1949, in Fraine, a town on Italy’s central eastern coast not far from the Adriatic Sea. He came to the United States with his family in 1966 and became a standout performer on the soccer pitch at Paterson’s Eastside High School, scoring 38 goals in two seasons. He went on to play at Southern Connecticut State University.

He came to Clifton High School in 1978, taking over a boys’ soccer program that his predecessor, Palydowycz, had led to three county championships and one state title. On that solid foundation, Mr. Rossi built a soccer program that was the envy of its rivals.

“He set the tone, he set the pride and tradition that we’re still enjoying,” said Joe Vespignani, who succeeded Mr. Rossi as Clifton’s boys’ soccer coach in 2001. “He built the program into a state power, and when you built it up to that level and you have that sense of tradition, as you get new players coming into the system year in and year out, they want to maintain that. They want to uphold that tradition and make the town proud.”

Off the pitch, Mr. Rossi “was just a great guy to be around,” Vespignani said. “He was a lot of fun — good jokes, good stories. A lot of people saw him as the coach — very focused and serious. And those are good qualities, but off the field I just enjoyed being around him and getting to know his family. They’re all wonderful people.”

In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Mr. Rossi is survived by two sisters, Clelia D’Ambrosio of North Haledon and Maria Rossi, of Biella, Italy.

Visitation is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at DeLuccia-Lozito Funeral Home, 265 Belmont Ave. in Haledon. A funeral Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church, 231 Second Ave., Clifton. Burial will be at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Saddle Brook.

In a 1989 interview with The Record, Mr. Rossi paused to reflect on the evolution of the world’s sport in America in his time coaching some of the best young players in the country. The sport was growing, he said, and the level of play steadily improving.

“There are more American kids playing now, and they’re not second best to the foreign players the way they were then,” he said. “Now, American kids know the game and have been playing it for a long time. The foreign kids and the American kids are both skilled today.”

Legendary Clifton soccer coach Fernando Rossi dies

Fernando Rossi, a native of Italy’s central coast who built the Clifton High School boys’ soccer team into a regional powerhouse over 23 years as its head coach, died Tuesday. He was 60.

A cause of death was not made public Tuesday.

Mr. Rossi took the helm of the team from its founder, Severin Palydowycz, in 1978 and ran the program through the 2001 season, amassing 353 wins. His teams lost just 95 games and tied in 51 matches.

In his final year as coach, the Mustangs won 20 consecutive matches to finish 20-2, earning their fifth consecutive Passaic County soccer championship and a spot in the state Group 4 sectional draw. The team’s performance stunned even Mr. Rossi himself.

“If you had told me at the beginning of the season that we would win 20 games, I would have said, ‘No way,’” he told The Record in December 2001.

Mr. Rossi left Clifton High School, where he also taught Italian and Spanish, and moved to Parma, Italy, where his son Giuseppe joined the youth team of the Serie A soccer club Parma F.C.

Now 23, Giuseppe Rossi turned down an invitation to train with the United States men’s national team in 2006, stating a desire to play for Italy. The young striker scored two goals for Italy in a match against the U.S. in last year’s Confederations Cup in South Africa. He currently plays for Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga.

“I always thought for Giuseppe to go to the next level, he had to go where they live and breathe soccer,” Rossi told The New York Times last year. Mr. Rossi’s wife, the former Cleonilde Petrocelli, and their daughter, Tina, stayed behind in Clifton.

Fernando Felice Rossi was born on July 22, 1949, in Fraine, a town on Italy’s central eastern coast not far from the Adriatic Sea. He came to the United States with his family in 1966 and became a standout performer on the soccer pitch at Paterson’s Eastside High School, scoring 38 goals in two seasons. He went on to play at Southern Connecticut State University.

He came to Clifton High School in 1978, taking over a boys’ soccer program that his predecessor, Palydowycz, had led to three county championships and one state title. On that solid foundation, Mr. Rossi built a soccer program that was the envy of its rivals.

“He set the tone, he set the pride and tradition that we’re still enjoying,” said Joe Vespignani, who succeeded Mr. Rossi as Clifton’s boys’ soccer coach in 2001. “He built the program into a state power, and when you built it up to that level and you have that sense of tradition, as you get new players coming into the system year in and year out, they want to maintain that. They want to uphold that tradition and make the town proud.”

Off the pitch, Mr. Rossi “was just a great guy to be around,” Vespignani said. “He was a lot of fun — good jokes, good stories. A lot of people saw him as the coach — very focused and serious. And those are good qualities, but off the field I just enjoyed being around him and getting to know his family. They’re all wonderful people.”

In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Mr. Rossi is survived by two sisters, Clelia D’Ambrosio of North Haledon and Maria Rossi, of Biella, Italy.

Visitation is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at DeLuccia-Lozito Funeral Home, 265 Belmont Ave. in Haledon. A funeral Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church, 231 Second Ave., Clifton. Burial will be at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Saddle Brook.

In a 1989 interview with The Record, Mr. Rossi paused to reflect on the evolution of the world’s sport in America in his time coaching some of the best young players in the country. The sport was growing, he said, and the level of play steadily improving.

“There are more American kids playing now, and they’re not second best to the foreign players the way they were then,” he said. “Now, American kids know the game and have been playing it for a long time. The foreign kids and the American kids are both skilled today.”